Comment by _DeadFred_ 4 days ago
They better not teach that. We all know dinosaurs aren't real!
I joke but religious education isn't all bad. One of my smartest friends in High School went to Santa Clara University and really liked it.
Catholics aren't generally young-Earth creationists, and overall the Church argues the age of the earth is a scientific not a religious question.
I totally agree there are many religious schools which are extremely high quality. Despite a few strange views at the school I went to, the general quality of education was quite high. However, I refuse to ignore the many other examples of schools which are not high quality. They should be called out, and there's no way I want my tax dollars going to teach their nonsense.
The thing is - the average school is terrible. NAEP scores show less than 25% reach "basic" proficiency in math, and reading is even worse.
I can't find any comparable stats on just religious schools, but I strongly suspect they are, on average, performing substantially better than non-religious schools. The reasons for that are more to do with the students than the schools, but the exact reason is inconsequential - the point is that people are targeting them because of the religious aspect and not the quality of education.
The typical claim of evolution is illogical. Even if a religious school solely and exclusively taught creationism while not even paying lip service to the controversy (which few to none do), it's not at all like a child's education would be permanently crippled. As the most important things learned in basic education are not facts, but skills - reading, writing, and arithmetic in particular.
A school which can be choosy in admissions will likely have students with better proficiencies. It's easy to have only top scoring students when you can kick out the bottom scoring ones.
> the point is that people are targeting them because of the religious aspect and not the quality of education
This is the point I'm making. Many people aren't going to end up choosing the school because of the quality of the education, they'll be choosing it because it aligns with their world view. That germ theory is a lie, the Earth is 5,000 years old, scientists are liars out to eliminate Christ from society, and that the only things you need to know is what is in the Bible.
Let's assume what you're saying is true, though I'm sure you realize you're being rather hyperbolic, at a minimum.
I think the purpose of school is to teach the fundamentals - reading, writing and arithmetic in particular.
I don't really care what worldview a school endorses so long as they are completely transparent on it.
Young Earth theory and creationism is one side of a coin - 80 genders, intersectionalism, and critical theory is the other.
If a parent is down with these worldviews, I see no problem so long as the school is excelling at their primary educational responsibilities, and also making their ideological motives transparent to parents.
Many Catholic high schools are also among the highest performing in the country.
The claims around religious education are one of the biggest remaining examples of socially acceptable bigotry.